Toray and T2 commercialize autonomous petrochemical trucking
- Commercial Level 2 operations cover about 440 km of a 520‑km route from Toray’s Chiba Plant to Shibusawa Logistics’ Ibaraki centre.
- A trial started in September 2025; four trial runs through March 2026 confirmed transport quality and safety matched existing operations.
- Trucks haul TOYOLAC™ ABS resin and run on renewable fuels, including B5 diesel and renewable diesel made mainly from waste cooking oil and animal/vegetable fats; CO₂ from renewable diesel combustion may be treated as zero for reporting.
- Toray and T2 will collaborate to deploy Level 4 long‑haul autonomous trucks, with T2 targeting rollout from 2027.
Context
Japan faces growing driver shortages and the “2024 logistics problem,” which capped drivers’ overtime at 960 hours per year; without countermeasures, transport capacity is projected to be 34% short of current levels by 2030.
Commercial Level 2 operations
Toray and T2 began commercial shipments using T2’s Level 2 autonomous trucks on expressway sections connecting eastern and western Japan. The commercial run covers about 440 kilometres of a 520‑kilometre route from Toray’s Chiba Plant to Shibusawa Logistics Corporation’s Ibaraki centre, operating from the Tomei Expressway’s Ayase Smart Interchange to the Shin‑Meishin Expressway’s Ibaraki‑Sendaji Interchange in Osaka, hauling TOYOLAC™ acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin.
Trials and safety
A trial launched in September 2025 and four trial runs through March 2026 showed that transport quality and safety of T2’s autonomous trucks matched existing operations. The Level 2 trucks operate with driver supervision and the driver temporarily takes control when necessary.
Fuel and next steps
The trucks use renewable fuels such as B5 diesel and renewable diesel produced mainly from waste cooking oil and animal and vegetable fats; under applicable Japanese regulations, CO₂ emissions from combustion of renewable diesel fuel may be treated as zero for reporting purposes. Toray will apply insights from the trial and Level 2 commercial operations to build a resilient logistics model and collaborate with T2 on a framework to deploy Level 4 autonomous long‑haul services targeted from 2027.
Source: Toray